Friday, April 28, 2017

After
three adventurous teenagers decide to explore the origin of mysterious lights
appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, they vanish without a trace. Twenty years
later, unseen footage from that night surfaces, that chronicles the final hours
of their fateful expedition.

Despite
all the negative reviews, I decided to see this film purely out of curiosity. The
theater was empty except for my own presence, but I am still not convinced that
was due to the film’s reviews.

Rather, I attribute that to the disbelief
surrounding UFO’s, which may have smothered interest.

That
said, I rather enjoyed it. There is no comparison intended or otherwise to the “Blair
Witch Project” and its sequel, nor was it as compelling as “Cloverfield”.That’s what makes a documentary a
documentary. “Phoenix Forgotten” is character and event based, purely under the
control of the camera operator. To that end, it accomplished what it was supposed
to.

Florence
Hartigan (2013’s “Bro-Dependent” mini-series) is Sophie, the sister of Josh
played by Luke-Spencer Roberts, from last year’s “ The Good Neighbor” and one
of the three missing persons. The other two are Ashley played by Chelsea Lopez
(2017’s “Novitiate”) and Justin Matthews (2016’s “The Interestings”) as Mark.

Sophie’s
search, I felt, was as well chronicled as it was convincing. The other characters
however were initially weak at times, but in all fairness after much reflection,
I began to question how I would react to what they were experiencing. Therefore,
accolades go to Director Justin Barber, who is no stranger to video
documentaries; having numerous credits that include producer for 2008’s “Medicine
for the Melancholy” and providing graphics in several “Star Trek” short
documentaries. He also served as one of the writers for this film, teaming up
with T.S. Nowlin, who wrote the screenplay for 2015’s “Maze Runner: The Scorch
Trials”.

The
plot delivered a sense of mystery that only this kind of subject matter can deliver.
It obviously wasn’t produced for the action-packed factor, like other Ridley
Scott productions, i.e. “Martians” and “300”. Again, this is not a bad thing.

In
summary my guess is this film will be as forgotten as “Phoenix” was, only
sooner rather than later. And that is too bad, because in the long run it was
interesting, fast moving and with a short run time which I feel most other
films should have been, that were a lot less well received.

Friday, April 21, 2017

“The
Fate of the Furious” is the eighth film in the Fast and Furious franchise.
That’s right, those early 2000s street racing movies have transformed into one
of the premiere blockbuster series on the planet; and there are already at
least two more of them on the way. The last few installments have been just as
over the top, as any comic book film out there, with a plethora of absurd
action sequences that completely defy physics. That being said, I am going to
categorize, “The Fate of the Furious” as a superhero action comedy of sorts,
since this latest chapter is even more extreme than its predecessors.

Once
again, this movie features an absolutely star studded returning cast, with the
exceptions of the late Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and a few others. Vin
Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson,
Ludacris and Kurt Russell all reprise their previous roles, while names like
Charlize Theron, Scott Eastwood, and Helen Mirren join the party.

For
whatever it is worth, the “plot” of this movie is rather straightforward, but
there are a handful of twists and surprises blended throughout.Having said that, I will keep my summary
brief and spoiler-free. As seen in the trailers, this time around Dominic
Toretto (Vin Diesel) is sucked into the world of terrorism and pitted against
his former team/family.

“The
Fate of the Furious” simply has to be the most ridiculous movie that I have
ever seen, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This franchise seems far
more comfortable in its own skin, being more self-aware than ever before. For
the most part, the mood is pretty light throughout and there are countless one-liners
to laugh out loud at; particularly the humorous banter between Dwayne “The
Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham’s characters. Every single action sequence is
more preposterous than the last, but I truly admire the creativity it took to
put it all together this time around. Right from the opening scene, any sort of
reality is thrown out the window and from that point on, this movie is just
stupidly entertaining. Personally, “Fast Five” is the only film in the series
that I find worth re-watching at this point and remains my favorite installment.
However, “The Fate of the Furious” is even more exciting than the last two
chapters and well worth checking out in theaters.

*For the next couple of months, look here for
the weekly “Friendship Garden” series. It’s a tale for children that can be
enjoyed by adults.

Chapter 1

Who Am I? - Polly
the Pansy Wants to Know

What was that? She
could hear a loud buzzing noise. Where was it coming from?

Ouch! It hurt when
she tried to open her eyes. It was really bright . . . why? Where was she?What is this place? Polly was trying to have
a look around. She needed to figure out where that noise was coming from. After
a few minutes, she was able to get her eyes open and she could see others! Some
of them were still trying to open their eyes too. Others already had their eyes
open and they were cheering loudly. Now that she had her eyes open, she liked
the brightness. It was kind of warm and cheery - a very happy place really.

Where were they
all? WHAT were they all? Polly learned that the noise she heard was coming from
all the others, who were all talking at once. They were trying to figure out
where they were and what they were.

As Polly looked
around, she could see that all the others were light green and very wispy and
very delicate looking. She looked down at herself - she also was light green
and very wispy. She continued to look around and . . .oh wow! Some of the others were talking to
her! They were shouting, “Hi, how are you? Isn’t this fun?” Polly realized she
could speak to them. “Yes,” she shouted, “This is fun and sunny and warm!”

Polly decided
this must be her house. She found out later that it is a house, but it is
called a greenhouse. The greenhouse
has lots and lots of windows that let in lots and lots of sun light.That’s why it is so bright inside. It is
where the baby flowers begin to grow from seeds into healthy plants. And she
was one of them! She was a flower!

Over in the
corner - just sitting and soaking in the sunshine, was a very large, very full,
and very colorful. . . what? “What was that?” Polly said to
herself. She looked at it and wondered some more. But she did not have to
wonder for long, because it was looking right back at her and then it spoke to
her!

It said, “Hello
Polly, how are you dear?” Polly could not speak. She was so shocked, so
surprised and excited by all the wonderful, bright colors that were covering
this beautiful thing - that she was speechless. The very large, beautiful thing
in the corner spoke again, “Don’t be afraid dear, I am your Grandmother.”

So, Polly decided
to be brave. She took a deep breath and she answered, “Grandmother, I don’t
understand what’s going on.I don’t know
what you are or even what I am.” They talked all day and she peppered her Grandmother
with lots of questions. Polly’s Grandmother’s name was Prudence. Polly learned
that she and her Grandmother were flowers called Pansies. So her name was Polly
Pansy.

Grandmother explained that Polly came from a seed that was put into some
soil, here in the warm greenhouse, and she was very much loved, fed and
watered. Granny Prudence also told Polly that she would grow into a beautiful
flower with many, many, colorful petals and that she would look the same as
Granny looked!“Would you like to look
like I do, Polly?” Grandmother asked. Polly shouted, “Oh yes!”. . . She almost jumped right out of her soil, she
was so excited.She found it hard to
imagine that she could be almost as colorful as her Grandmother!

Quiz Question to
spark a conversation with your child:What is a “greenhouse” used for?

*Look for more
things to happen to Polly & her friends coming up next in Chapter 2.

Chapter 2

Polly Pansy’s New Appearance

Time went by, and then one morning weeks later, Polly woke up from a
good night’s sleep in the greenhouse, to a lot of shouting and giggling. When
she opened her eyes, she could not believe what she was looking at! All of her
little friends were dressed in beautiful colors! Deep purples!Bursting yellows! Pretty pinks! Bright whites
with purple spots . . . so-o-o many colors!

It was amazing! It was dazzling! The greenhouse had a delicious sweet
perfume that came from all those pansy blossoms.

Everyone was so very excited! They were all talking, laughing, singing
and swaying back and forth! The greenhouse was alive with color, sparkle and
activity that created a happy energy. When Polly looked down at herself, she
realized she was dressed in heavenly, brilliant colors too! She had so many
colored petals, that one could hardly see her green leaves at all. Yippee!She was already almost as colorful as her
Grandmother!

Many of Polly’s friends wore different flower blossoms from the ones
Polly had; not everyone looked the same in the greenhouse at all. So she asked her
Granny Prudence about this. Granny explained that some of the flowers were
called Zinnias and they could be very tall or very short.Polly learned that Zinnias came in many
different colors and were among the happiest flowers in the greenhouse. Granny
then told Polly about Marigolds, “They are most often a brilliant, yellow color
and also have a puffy blossom right on top of their heads.” Soon after, Polly
met Zelda Zinnia and Mary Marigold. Polly was admiring Zelda and Mary because
their colors and flower petals were so very different from Polly’s. Zelda
Zinnia and Mary Marigold were very friendly and Polly, Zelda and Mary all
became good friends.

A little later, Granny Prudence told Polly, that very soon she would be
going to a new home.This made Polly
feel sad because she didn’t want to leave her Grandmother or her friends.Granny said that her new home was a veryspecial place and that Polly’s friends
would be moving with her! Granny told Polly that she would be going also. They
would all be transplanted into the Friendship Garden! There would be friends to
play with, talk with and giggle withall
day - every day!

And so it happened. One special morning when Polly woke up she knew
instantly that she wasin her new
home. The peaceful calm was the first thing she noticed. It was quieter here than
it was in the greenhouse. She just looked around and listened. There was so
much to see, so much to feel. Oh look! Zelda Zinnia and Mary Marigold were
planted right next to Polly Pansy in the garden. What a wonderful summer this
was going to be! Good friends, good feelings and plenty of warm sunshine. She
was surprised by the wonder of it all . . .She was now in her new home, theFriendship
Garden!

Brilliant colors exploded from everyone that lived in the Friendship
Garden.All of the colors shimmered and
sparkled in the sun beams from Mr. Sun.Miss Morning Dew sprinkled each one with her misty dew drops and all of
the flowers were glistening. The soft musical-breezes made everyone dance and
sway back and forth gently.All of the
flowers seemed to be blending their colors, their joy and their happiness - which
created that special something in the
air . . . almost like a song.Everyone
was so peaceful, so friendly and peaceful.

Quiz Question: What
does “transplanted” mean?

*Polly will face her first difficult challenge in Chapter 3 – Watch for
it!

Chapter 3

Polly Does Not Feel Well

As the summer sprawled out over the Friendship Garden, one
day things began to change. Polly began to realize that she was very thirsty. Also,
she didn’t feel well at all. It seemed like days and days since she and her
friends had a drink of water. Mr. Sun, who had been her friend and who had been
keeping her nice and warm, was now making it too hot. It felt like her leaves
were burning. She could see that her beautiful colors had started drying and
fading. She needed some water soon or she felt like she would flop over and
never get up! Zelda Zinnia and Mary Marigold also looked like they were going
to faint. They all became too weak, too tired and too thirsty to visit with
each other very much.

In fact everyone in the Friendship Garden seemed tired
and faint. Even the birds did not come into the garden as much - which added to
the sad mood that was falling on the garden. Things just got dry, dusty and different
. . . Some of the happiness and peaceseemed
to be going out of the Friendship Garden.

The next morning when Polly woke up, she realized she was
lying on the ground, in the dirt. Where were her care givers? She cried out for
them but they didn’t hear her.She
couldn’t even stand up straight because she was so weak. There was nothing
Polly could do but wait in the dry, dusty dirt and hope that it would rain or
that her care givers would come and water the garden.So she waited. She waited with her friends,
Zelda Zinnia and Mary Marigold.They
just waited and waited - and Polly remembered when their days in the Friendship
Garden were green and fun.She
remembered when everyone in the garden was healthy, laughing and playing.Finally she nodded off to sleep.

What was that? It felt oh so good! Oh my! That was wonderful! Polly opened her eyes and
saw one of her care givers. Finally they were here! They were giving her a
wonderful, long drink of water and a bath! Zelda Zinnia and Mary Marigold were
wiggling around under the

wonderful water spray too! Oh how sweet! In just a few
minutes she began to feel so much better!

Zelda and Mary seemed to be standing up taller all ready. Everyone was
going to be all right!

The happy calm returned to the Friendship Garden. The
hummingbirds danced in and out of the garden all summer long. All of the birds
fluttered back in to visit and sing.People came to sit, relax and enjoy the garden. Polly talked, sang and
swayed in the musical-breezes with her friends all day, every day all summer
long!

Polly learned that it was a wonderful thing to make
friends and to become part of the Friendship Garden. She learned that, together,
it was all of them that created the garden - and the special feelings of
friendship and magic of the garden. It took a team of flowers and their care
giver to make a very special place.

*Quiz Question:What is the one thing you must always check your plants in your garden
for? What do they need every few days to stay alive?

* Next time: You will meet another one of Polly’s
friends, Benny the Bachelor Button. You will find out what trouble he gets
into!

Chapter 4

Benjamin Bachelor
Button. I Live Where?

It was a warm
day, and summer life was beginning to wake up, after a long winter sleep.Summer was visiting the fields, the meadows
and the vegetable gardens too. All over Maine, in the farms, the cities and
everywhere, it was a beautiful, peaceful day. Trees had sprouted their leaves
and Mr. Sun was visiting everyone for a longer time now than he had during the
winter months.

Benny was a
little, wispy, light green baby. He woke up to find himself in the greenhouse
just as Polly Pansy had done. He was happy in the greenhouse with his other
little, wispy friends and they were waiting to be transplanted into the Friendship
Garden - the one he had heard so many wonderful things about. It was all he could
think about, all the time! He was planning to have an exciting summer in that
very special place.

So Benny waited
anxiously for his special day when he would get to go to his fun, new home in
the Friendship Garden.

Finally, one very
warm day in late May, Benny’s special moment arrived! All the care givers came
to the greenhouse and started taking the little plantlets out of the greenhouse
to plant them into their new homes in the Friendship Garden. Benny could not
stand still; he was so-o-o excited get to there! He waited impatiently until
his turn came to be carried outside.A
little child care giver came over to where Benny was waiting. The little care
giver picked Benny up in his little chubby, care giver hands.

Yes! He was finally going to the Friendship Garden
that he had dreamed about and thought about for so long! Off they went . . .
The little care giver and Benny, headed for the Friendship Garden.

Benny could now
see the white, picket fence that surrounded the Friendship Garden. As they got
closer to the Garden, he could see some of the Elders (perennials) who stayed
in the garden all winter and were there year after year. They had already begun
to sprout their green leaves.Danny
Delphinium was there - he wasn’t very tall yet, but soon his blue flowers would
open up. Oh - there was Rita Rose!She
too, stayed all winter, and she was already starting to have buds on her
branches that would soon be beautiful roses.

But wait!!! “Where
are we going?” Benny wondered.He was
confused. They were going right passed the entrance to the Friendship Garden.
It was now behind them. Benny did not understand why the little care giver kept
on walking right by the Friendship Garden! Then Benny thought,“Oh...this care giver is a child like me
& he just got mixed up. He will probably turn right around and put me the Friendship
Garden when he sees he went passed it.”

But no! The
little child did not turn around and put Benny in the Friendship Garden. The
child care giver had decided that there were plenty of flowers in the Friendship
Garden and he wanted his special flower to go in the Veggie Patch!

Now the Veggie
Patch was not very far away from the Friendship Garden at all . . . so Benny could
hear Danny Delphinium and Rita Rose talking to him. They were telling him not
to worry, that he would still be a beautiful flower and he would have a good
summer just the same. They told him that he would make new friends there. But
Benny Bachelor Button was not too sure about any of this . . . he already felt
a bit lonely and the summer had only just started!

Quiz
Question:What month (in Maine) is it
safe to plant an annual plant like Benny?

*Next time, in
Chapter 5 - See how Benny adjusts to his new home and his very different
friends.

Chapter 5

Benjamin Bachelor Button - I Miss the Colors

The day went by quickly after
Benny had been gently planted in the Veggie Patch by the little child
care-giver. He got a nice drink and he settled his little feet in his new soil
and tried to make himself comfortable. He heard the other young veggie
plantlets all talking with each other, but they seemed to be talking about food
- not flowers.

What was that? Someone nearby
shouted, “Welcome”. Benny looked around to see a green little veggie plantlet
to his left. Benny said, “Oh hi! My name is Benjamin Bachelor Button”.

The little plantlet that was
talking to Benny told him that her name was Tisha Tomato. Tisha and Benny
talked and talked. Benny asked Tisha about everyone in the Veggie Patch.

He was shocked to learn that the
plants in the Veggie Patch were not at all interested in producing
beautiful flower blossoms! They all only cared about producing food that the
care givers would eat. Each vegetable plant explained to Benny what they were
there for. Each one had a job to do. Some were there to produce cucumbers, others
were there to produce corn; there were the lettuce plantlets for producing the
lettuce for salads, and of course Tisha was there to produce tomatoes. Tisha
also explained that the veggies and some of the flowers were called annuals.
That meant that they only stayed in the garden for one summer; they did not
return year after year like the Elders (perennials) do. Benny was quite
impressed with this whole group.

They seem very serious and very much
focused on their jobs. However, none of this sounded like much fun to Benny -
what he cared about was producing his blue flower blossoms.

So, the hazy days of summer
rolled out and everyone in the Veggie Patch became friends and chatted lazily
with each other - while doing their very important work of growing rapidly and
producing vegetables.

But Benny seemed to just feel that things were very different
here from what he was hearing and seeing over in the Friendship Garden. Here,
everyone concentrated on their jobs, their growth, and on how much food each
one could quickly produce.

Benny found himself visiting
with the flowers over there, in the Friendship
Garden, more and more and . . .watching
over there . . . and listening to
what was happening over there.

Finally, one day Benny realized
that he was very sad that he did not liveover there in the Friendship Garden of his dreams. Inside the Friendship
Garden, everyone seemed to be happy to just play, sing, sway and dance in the
musical-breezes; and to let the darting, flittering hummingbirds tickle them
all.

They all just seemed to have more fun over there. The beautiful colors
that were popping open from all the flowers over therewere so much fun to look at.Benny wished there were more color here in the Veggie Patch.

The Veggie Patch plantlets were
nice and they were his friends, but there just was not much color here to
enjoy, at all. They even seemedtonot
care aboutcolor!!!

Here he was, waiting anxiously
to wear his beautiful blue colors, but when he talked about that to the
vegetables, they didn’t seem at all interested! Tisha Tomato had told him, “Why
Benny, you can’t eat color. Food is much more important. You must know
that.”

So Benny felt a little bit
useless and very sad.

Quiz Question: Who are some of the veggies friends that Benny
met? What foods do they make?

*Be sure to look for Chapter 6 -
To find out if Benny moves out of the Veggie Patch or not.

Chapter 6 - I Found My Home

This is the last installment of the “Friendship Garden” series.

A few weeks passed and one
morning when Benny Bachelor Button woke up, he knew right away that something
was different; he now had his beautiful blue blossoms! Finally it had happened!
He couldn’t wait for Tisha Tomato and everyone else in the Veggie Patch to wake
up and notice how he had changed into a colorful flower.

Tisha Tomato was waking up, just
about now. She stretched and shook off some dew drops and then looked over at
Benny. He was standing there waiting; just looking at her, and he was very
anxious to hear what she had to say about his new blue flower blossoms.“Good morning Benny, it looks like another
perfect day today doesn’t it?” Tisha said. Benny said, “Good morning Miss Tisha.” Tisha then turned and wished some of the other
veggie plants a good morning. But Benny was a little disappointed because Tisha
had said nothing about his beautiful blue colors – and -no
one else did either!

As the morning went on, Benny
was feeling a bit lonesome. He was dressed in all of his fine blue colors and
no one cared. The entire Veggie Patch was excited about all the food everyone
had produced. Tisha Tomato had new tomatoes and she was talking with everyone
else about their new, fresh veggies. The cucumbers were here, the corn plants were
pleased with their new yellow corn cobs. And everyone was excited about all the
food but no one noticed Benny’s beautiful blue flowers.

So Benny just stood there.

He said nothing more. For the
rest of the morning, he just stood there - feeling sorry for himself and not
paying attention to anyone or anything.

What was that? He heard it
again. Some one seemed to be calling to him. He was so sad that he had stopped
listening to what was going on around him. But now he heard something.

Rita Rose called to him from the
Friendship Garden. She was trying to get Benny’s attention.When she finally did, she told Benny how
smart and handsome he looked.“Goodness,” Rita said, “I’ve been so busy talking with everyone over
here that I did not realize you had turned into such a handsome, blue flower
overnight!”Rita told Benny that he
looked almost as handsome as Danny Delphinium - both of them were dressed in
their beautiful blue colors!“Why,” she
said, “No one else around here has any blue color at all - only you and
Danny!How wonderfully different you
both are!”

Just about that time, some of
the care givers were walking around and they came over to the Veggie Patch. Out
in the front, running ahead of the others, was the little child care giver -
the very one who had planted Benny in the Veggie Patch. The little care giver
was all excited. He was giggling and talking loudly and showing the other care
givers how wonderful Benny looked!

Then everyone in the Friendship
Garden began to notice how striking and handsome Benny was.Mary Marigold (annual) told him that he made
the Veggie Patch look inviting and that he seemed to be welcoming people into
the Veggie Patch.

She said that he should be the
Official Greeter of the Veggie Patch because he made it look like a fun place
to explore. Now everyone in the Friendship Garden was talking to him!

Pretty soon everyone in the Veggie
Patch seemed to notice Benny too.They
all started whispering and then started talking louder about Benny. They told
Benny that they were very pleased that he was growing there, bringing his beautiful
blue color to them; and that they were sorry they didn’t notice him sooner.

The Veggie Patch plants told
Benny that he was very important to their patch, because he brought a kind of
beauty that they could not bring. They had their jobs: which was making
veggies, but Benny had his job: which was making beautiful blue flowers and
making the Veggie Patch more attractive.

They all took a vote and made
Benny, The Official Veggie Patch Greeter.He would welcome people into the Veggie Patch all summer long.

Benny learned that everyone has
something special they can do and he didn’t have to feel bad that he couldn’t produce
food. He produced beauty . . . and that was just as important; because beauty
creates beautiful feelings and those
feelings feed the spirit of everyone in the world and those feelings spread
from person to person.

Benny also learned that it
didn’t matterwhere you live. He
discovered that he did as much good in the Veggie Patch as he would have done
in the Friendship Garden - maybe more!He lived exactly where he was supposed to live!